Ratchet wrench



y 1963 V A. s. WEINSTEIN 3,095,769

RATCHET WRENCH Filed March 8, 1960 INVENTOR.

ABRAHAM S. WEINSTEIN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,095,769 RATCHETWRENCH Abraham S. Weinstein, 15 Garrison R'ohd, Brookline, Mass. FiledMar. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 13,517 r 4 Claims. (Cl. 81-97) The presentinvention relates to a ratchet wrench. It is an object of the presentinvention to provide a ratchet wrench having a combination of fixed andadjustable jaws whereby a portion of the wrench may be used as aconventional ratchet wrench and another portion of the wrench may beused as a nonra-tchable wrench with two portions so interrelated as topermit an object being tightened or loosened to be moved from oneportion to the other with facility.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a simple,durable, compact, inexpensive wrench which is easy to use and which willpermit a very substantial and rigid gripping of a nut or other similarobject. These and other objects and advantages of the present inventionwill be more clearly understood when considered in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the ratchet wrench,

FIG. 2 is an exploded view in perspective of the ratchet wrench,

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the ratchet wrench showing theposition of the moveable jaw when the wrench is turned in one directionand taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view substantially the same as FIG. 3 butshowing the position of the moveable jaw when the wrench is turned in adirection opposite to that of the direction illustrated in FIG. 3, and,

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the wrench taken substantially alongthe same line as 3-3 in FIG. 1 but with a nut omitted.

The casing 1 comprises a handle 2 and head 3. The casing 1 may be formedof two pieces of metal including a main portion generally illustrated at4 and a covering plate 5 which covers a recess 6 in the head of the mainportion 4. The covering plate 5 is secured to the main portion 4 by aplurality of screws 25. The head 3 is formed with opposite jaws 7 and 8.These jaws 7 and 8 have opposed parallel gripping surfaces respectively9 and 10. An enlarged transversely extending opening 11 is formed in thecasing at the inner end of the jaws 7 and 8. The recess 6 definedbetween the main portion 4 and the covering plate 5 borders the opening11 and is continuous with it. The recess 6 occupies substantially theentire head. A portion of the opening may be bordered by an arcuate wall51. It is formed with a main portion 15 having side walls 16 whichextend rearwardly from the inner edges of the surfaces 9 and and in adirection generally parallel to the outer edges of the head to arearward slot 17. The rearwardly extending slot 17 is positionedgenerally longitudinally of the handle 2. Positioned within the recess 6is a moveable jaw 20 which is secured and pivotally supported on a pin21. The pin 21 in turn is journalled between the inner walls of the mainportion 4 and the covering plate 5. This jaw 20 is generally C-sh-apedin configuration with the pin 21 projecting through the jaw at one freeend of the 'C-shaped jaw. The other end of the 'C-shaped jaw 20 has aflat inner surface 27. This surface 27 is adapted to be pivoted slightlyinto opening 11 just beyond surface 9 when there is no nut in the wrenchas illustrated in FIG. 5. When a nut is inserted the surface 27 movesback into alignment with surface 9. The leg 29 of the C-shaped moveablejaw also projects slightly beyond the inner 3,095,769 Patented July 2,1963 curved edges 30 which partially defines the opening 11 (FIG. 2)when the leg 29 is aligned with surface 9. The jaw 20 is tensionedtowards this aligned position by a helical spring 35 which is positionedwithin the slot 17 with one end of the spring 35 projecting out of theslot 17 into engagement with a tongue 36' integrally formed on the outeredge of the jaw 20.

In using this wrench for tightening a nut 40, for example, asillustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, movement of the wrench in the direction asindicated by the arrow 41 with the nut 40 engaged by the moveable jaw20", will cause a tightening of the jaw 20 against the nut. The nut willbe partially engaged by the jaw 20 and partially engaged by the fixedsurface 10. Ratcheting movement in the opposite direction indicated byarrow 50 (FIG. 4) causes the moveable jaw 20- to pivot against thetension of the spring 35, thereby pivoting the surface 27 with respectto the surface 10 into an open position. If desired, a grippingengagement may be obtained by rotation in either direction when the nut40 is moved into engagement with the wrench between the fixed surfaces 9and 10. overlapping of the surfaces 9 and 27 since the surface 9 isformed in part by the side edges of the casing with the surface 27interposed therebetween.

Pin 21 is positioned normal to and opposite surface 27 so that nut 40when engaged by the surface 27 will be directly between surface 27 andpin 21. This permits a tightening or binding of the jaw on the nut as itis turned.

Pivotal movement of leg 29 is limited by sidewall 16 so that the surface27 under influence of spring 35 will project only slightly beyond thegripping surface 9. Thus, when a nut 40 is inserted between the jaws,there is slight tension on the nut due to the pressure of spring 35.This tension may be adjusted so that the wrench will remain inengagement with the nut 40 in overhead work or in other work in whichthe operator may let go of the wrench for a short period of time.

What is claimed is:

1. A ratchet wrench comprising a casing having a head and handle, saidhead having a pair of jaws with fixed opposed parallel surfaces, meansforming an opening transversely through said head adjacent the inneredges of said surfaces with said opening having transverse measurementsgreater than the distance between said surfaces, means forming a recesswithin said head bordering and continuous with said opening, a C-shapedjaw positioned within said recess with a pair of opposed legs with oneleg having a flattened inner surface, means pivotally supporting saidC-shaped jaw within said recess on an axis passing through said otherleg with said flattened inner surface of said one leg adapted to bepivoted into coplanar alignment with one of said parallel surfaces andwith said one leg partially projecting from said recess into saidopening, and spring means engaging said G-shaped jaw and tensioning saidone leg toward the other of said parallel surfaces.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said spring means comprise ahelical spring coplanar with said O- shaped jaw and projecting into saidrecess with one end engaging a tongue integral with said C-shaped jaw.

3. A ratchet wrench comprising a casing having a head and handle withsaid head 'having opposite side walls with means securing said sidewallstogether in spaced relation, said sidewalls defining a pair of opposedjaws and an opening extending transversely through said head adjacentthe inner ends of said jaws and a recess adjacent and continuous withsaid opening having opposite sides defined by said sidewalls, meansforming facing parallel fixed surfaces on said jaws spaced apart lessthan the transverse dimensions of said opening, a

It will be noted that there is an C-shaped jaw positioned within saidrecess with a pair of opposed legs positioned one on either side of saidopening, one leg having a flattened inner surface, means pivotallysupporting said C-shaped jaw on an axis passing through the other legwith said flattened inner surface of said one leg adapted to be pivotedinto coplanar alignment with one of said parallel surfaces and with saidone leg partially projecting from said recess into said opening, andspring means engaging said C-shaped jaw and tensioning said one legtoward the other of said parallel surfaces.

4. A ratchet wrench having a casing with a pair of opposed parallel jawshaving fixed parallel facing surfaces, means forming an enlargedtransverse opening adjacent said surfaces, a C-shaped jaw having a pairof legs with one leg having an engaging face, means pivotally supportingand securing said jaw at a pivot point in said other leg and with saidengaging face adapted to be coplanarly aligned with one of said surfacesand simultaneously partially project into said opening and meansnormally tensioning said leg into said opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS770,574 Halstead et al Sept. 20, 1904 1,320,668 Askman Nov. 4, 19191,732,000 Calognori Oct. 15, 1929 2,026,516 Chesnut et al. Jan. 7, 19362,584,353 Keiser Feb. 5, 1952 2,700,315 Hermanson Jan. 25, 1955 FOREIGNPATENTS 125 Great Britain Jan. 2, 1909

1. A RATCHET WRENCH COMPRISING A CASING HAVING A HEAD AND HANDLE, SAIDHEAD HAVING A PAIR OF JAWS WITH FIXED OPPOSED PARALLEL SURFACES, MEANSFORMING AN OPENING TRANSVERSELY THROUGH SAID HEAD ADJACENT THE INNEREDGES OF SAID SURFACES WITH SAID OPENING HAVING TRANSVERSE MEASUREMENTSGREATER THAN THE DISTANCE BETWEEN SAID SURFACES, MEANS FORMING A RECESSWITHIN SAID HEAD BORDERING AND CONTINUOUS WITH SAID OPENING, A C-SHAPEDJAW POSITIONED WITHIN SAID RECESS WITH A PAIR OF OPPOSED LEGS WITH ONELEG HAVING A FLATTENED INNER SURFACE, MEANS PIVOTALLY SUPPORTING SAIDC-SHAPED JAW WITHIN SAID RECESS ON AN AXIS PASSING THROUGH SAID OTHERLEG WITH SAID FLATTENED INNER SURFACE OF SAID ONE LEG ADAPTED TO BEPIVOTED INTO COPLANAR ALIGNMENT WITH ONE OF SAID PARALLEL SURFACES ANDWITH SAID ONE LEG PARTIALLY PROJECTING FROM SAID RECESS INTO SAIDOPENING, AND SPRING MEANS ENGAGING SAID C-SHAPED JAW AND TENSIONING SAIDONE LEG TOWARD THE OTHER OF SAID PARALLEL SURFACES.